'Hip-Hop Revolution' displays the early days of the music genre

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The Museum of the City of New York is taking visitors back to the early days of hip hop with a new exhibit called "Hip-Hop Revolution."

The event showcases the work of three New York City photographers who documented the scene's golden age, a period between the 1980s and early 1990s.

Joe Conzo started snapping photos when he was just 16 years old, and his music friends asked him to tag along.

"I was just floored," Conzo said. "Hearing Charlie Chase, a Puerto Rican DJ, play music my parents played, but played it differently? I was kidnapped into the culture of hip hop."

Martha Cooper's images are mostly of the streets, the boys and their breaking dancing, while Janette Beckman came from London, where she photographed the punk scene. Beckman loved hip hop and ended up staying in New York to shoot for magazines and labels.

The exhibit offers insight into the sounds that started right here in the city.

"That's what I want the kids to know," Conzo said. "If you love hip-hop so much, look at where it began...(its) humble beginning in the Bronx. Sixteen- and 17-year-old kids just doing something different."

"Hip-Hop Revolution: Photographs by Janette Beckman, Joe Conzo, and Martha Cooper" is open through September 13, 2015.

For more information and for tickets, visit MCNY.org/exhibition/hip-hop-revolution